Meister, a Newport resident, spends much of his time visiting the sick and elderly across Rhode Island, putting together wooden menorahs for nursing home residents and giving speeches on the historical significance of Touro Synagogue.

“I have a love affair with Newport,” Meister said. “And I have a love affair with Touro Synagogue.”

Meister is one of two recipients of The Newport Daily News 2012 Community Service Award. He and Beth Milham of Newport will be honored during a banquet on Tuesday, April 24, at the Atlantic Beach Club in Middletown. They were selected by a committee of local residents and community leaders from among 13 nominations, including several with multiple letters of support. It is the 17th year The Daily News has presented the award, established in 1996 in conjunction with the paper’s 150th anniversary.

Born in Hartford, Conn., Meister joined the Air Force after high school. He moved to Rhode Island to attend Bryant College and eventually settled in Providence, becoming co-owner of a jewelry shop.

He lived in Providence, Pawtucket and Warwick. He retired from the jewelry industry just as it faded locally. “Those kinds of manufacturing jobs are gone to China or someplace at this point,” he said.

A dozen years ago, he and his wife, Melba, bought a condominium on Goat Island, where he lives today. He said he loves being near the water and on nice days, walks from his condo across the Goat Island Causeway to Washington Street and back, a stroll of a couple of miles.

He and his wife, who died three years ago, used to own a timeshare on Long Wharf and decided that Newport was the place to live full time. His condo is packed with books on Newport history and he also is a collector of clocks.

“I had 150 when I moved in here,” he said. “But I’ve given quite a few away. I like to work on them a bit.”

Meister said he is slowing down and his hearing is a challenge (damaged from working in an aircraft factory as a young man), but he still gets out two or three times a week to visit nursing homes or the Veterans Home in Bristol. While many of the people he visits are Jewish, Meister chats with everyone.

“A lot of these people are just looking for someone to visit with them,” he said. “A lot of them are my age. I understand. Who’s left in my peer group? A lot of my friends are gone.”

Meister is no health-care professional. That’s not his role. He’s simply a volunteer looking to perk up someone’s day.

“My job is to be neutral,” he said. “I don’t comment on a person’s situation. I just want to sit and talk for a few minutes.”

Some years ago, Meister — who has three grown children and six grandchildren — used to drive throughout the state to visit people. Now he drives a bit less.

“But it’s important for me to get out there,” he said. “It’s not much, but it’s what I like to do. I think people like to have someone visit.”

Ethan Adler, assistant director of Jewish Eldercare of Rhode Island, wrote a letter nominating Meister for the Community Service Award. He said Meister exemplifies the ancient Jewish dictum, “You shall not separate yourself from the community.”

“He is a beacon of light, illuminating the path of volunteerism for others to follow,” Adler wrote. “He instills in others his steadfast allegiance to his community, and for that, many of us are grateful.”

A trip to Israel in 1994 sparked Meister’s interest in helping others. When he returned home, he contacted the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island and asked how he could help.

In nominating Meister, friend Rosalie Goldman described how Meister became involved in Jewish Eldercare, heading out to nursing homes to see the sick and elderly.

“He couldn’t get enough,” Goldman wrote. “Making friends became second nature to him. The elderly responded in kind.”

In 2003, Meister came up with the idea to put together 200 wooden menorahs for Hanukkah, distributing them to nursing homes and assisted living centers. He sawed, sanded and glued each piece.

Other projects included a statewide Potato Latke Day and, in a more serious cause, providing funding to the needy through the Hebrew Free Loan Association. One elderly Russian Jewish immigrant said he was grateful for the money so he could purchase a headstone for his late wife. Meister also volunteers at the Museum of Yachting and the Fort Adams Trust.

Those are just some of his contributions, Goldman said. Meister takes them in stride.

“Helping people,” he said, “makes me feel young.”

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